Biology X | LIFE PROCESSES | Nutrition in Human Beings

Nutrition in Human Beings

The alimentary canal is basically a long tube extending from the mouth to the anus. In Fig. 6.6, we can see that the tube has different parts. Various regions are specialised to perform different functions. What happens to the food once it enters our body? We shall discuss this process here.

What does this indicate about the presence or absence of starch in the two test tubes?

What does this tell us about the action of saliva on starch?

We eat various types of food which has to pass through the same digestive tract. Naturally the food has to be processed to generate particles which are small and of the same texture. This is achieved by crushing the food with our teeth. Since the lining of the canal is soft, the food is also wetted to make its passage smooth. When we eat something we like, our mouth ‘waters’. This is actually not only water, but a fluid called saliva secreted by the salivary glands. Another aspect of the food we ingest is its complex nature. If it is to be absorbed from the alimentary canal, it has to be broken into smaller molecules. This is done with the help of biological catalysts called enzymes. The saliva contains an enzyme called salivary amylase that breaks down starch which is a complex molecule to give sugar. The food is mixed thoroughly with saliva and moved around the mouth while chewing by the muscular tongue.

It is necessary to move the food in a regulated manner along the digestive tube so that it can be processed properly in each part. The lining of canal has muscles that contract rhythmically in order to push the food forward. These peristaltic movements occur all along the gut.

From the mouth, the food is taken to the stomach through the food-pipe or oesophagus. The stomach is a large organ which expands when food enters it. The muscular walls of the stomach help in mixing the food thoroughly with more digestive juices.

These digestion functions are taken care of by the gastric glands present in the wall of the stomach. These release hydrochloric acid, a protein digesting enzyme called pepsin, and mucus. The hydrochloric acid creates an acidic medium which facilitates the action of the enzyme pepsin. What other function do you think is served by the acid? The mucus protects the inner lining of the stomach from the action of the acid under normal conditions. We have often heard adults complaining about ‘acidity’. Can this be related to what has been discussed above?

The exit of food from the stomach is regulated by a sphincter muscle which releases it in small amounts into the small intestine. From the stomach, the food now enters the small intestine. This is the longest part of the alimentary canal which is fitted into a compact space because of extensive coiling. The length of the small intestine differs in various animals depending on the food they eat. Herbivores eating grass need a longer small intestine to allow the cellulose to be digested. Meat is easier to digest, hence carnivores like tigers have a shorter small intestine.

The small intestine is the site of the complete digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It receives the secretions of the liver and pancreas for this purpose. The food coming from the stomach is acidic and has to be made alkaline for the pancreatic enzymes to act. Bile juice from the liver accomplishes this in addition to acting on fats. Fats are present in the intestine in the form of large globules which makes it difficult for enzymes to act on them. Bile salts break them down into smaller globules increasing the efficiency of enzyme action. This is similar to the emulsifying action of soaps on dirt that we have learnt about in Chapter 4. The pancreas secretes pancreatic juice which contains enzymes like trypsin for digesting proteins and lipase for breaking down emulsified fats. The walls of the small intestine contain glands which secrete intestinal juice. The enzymes present in it finally convert the proteins to amino acids, complex carbohydrates into glucose and fats into fatty acids and glycerol.

The digested food is taken up by the walls of the intestine. The inner lining of the small intestine has numerous finger-like projections called villi which increase the surface area for absorption. The villi are richly supplied with blood vessels which take the absorbed food to each and every cell of the body, where it is utilised for obtaining energy, building up new tissues and the repair of old tissues.

The unabsorbed food is sent into the large intestine where more villi absorb water from this material. The rest of the material is removed from the body via the anus. The exit of this waste material is regulated by the and sphincter.

DENTAL CARIES

Dental caries or tooth decay causes gradual softening of enamel and dentine. It begins when bacteria acting on sugars produce acids that softens or demineralises the enamel. Masses of bacterial cells together with food particles stick to the teeth to form dental plaque. Saliva cannot reach the tooth surface to neutralise the acid as plaque covers the teeth. Brushing the teeth after eating removes the plaque before the bacteria produce acids. If untreated, microorganisms may invade the pulp, causing inflammation and infection.

QUESTIONS

What are the differences between autotrophic nutrition and heterotrophic nutrition?

Where do plants get each of the raw materials required for photosynthesis?

What is the role of the acid in our stomach?

What is the function of digestive enzymes?

How is the small intestine designed to absorb digested food?

Activity 6.4

Take some freshly prepared lime water in a test tube.

Blow air through this lime water.

Note how long it takes for the lime water to turn milky.

Use a syringe or pichkari to pass air through some fresh lime water taken in another test tube (Fig. 6.7).

Note how long it takes for this lime water to turn milky.

What does this tell us about the amount of carbon dioxide in the air that we breathe out?

Activity 6.5

Take some fruit juice or sugar solution and add some yeast to this. Take this mixture in a test tube fitted with a one-holed cork.

Fit the cork with a bent glass tube. Dip the free end of the glass tube into a test tube containing freshly prepared lime water.

What change is observed in the lime water and how long does it take for this change to occur?

What does this tell us about the products of fermentation?

We have discussed nutrition in organisms in the last section. The food material taken in during the process of nutrition is used in cells to provide energy for various life processes. Diverse organisms do this in different ways – some use oxygen to break-down glucose completely into carbon dioxide and water, some use other pathways that do not involve oxygen (Fig. 6.8). In all cases, the first step is the break-down of glucose, a six-carbon molecule, into a three-carbon molecule called pyruvate. This process takes place in the cytoplasm. Further, the pyruvate may be converted into ethanol and carbon dioxide. This process takes place in yeast during fermentation. Since this process takes place in the absence of air (oxygen), it is called anaerobic respiration. Breakdown of pyruvate using oxygen takes place in the mitochondria. This process breaks up the three-carbon pyruvate molecule to give three molecules of carbon dioxide. The other product is water. Since this process takes place in the presence of air (oxygen), it is called aerobic respiration. The release of energy in this aerobic process is a lot greater than in the anaerobic process. Sometimes, when there is a lack of oxygen in our muscle cells, another pathway for the break-down of pyruvate is taken. Here the pyruvate is converted into lactic acid which is also a three-carbon molecule. This build-up of lactic acid in our muscles during sudden activity causes cramps.

The energy released during cellular respiration is immediately used to synthesise a molecule called ATP which is used to fuel all other activities in the cell. In these processes, ATP is broken down giving rise to a fixed amount of energy which can drive the endothermic reactions taking place in the cell.

ATP is the energy currency for most cellular processes. The energy released during the process of respiration is used to make an ATP molecule from ADP and inorganic phosphate.

Endothermic processes in the cell then use this ATP to drive the reactions. When the terminal phosphate linkage in ATP is broken using water, the energy equivalent to 30.5 kJ/mol is released.

Think of how a battery can provide energy for many different kinds of uses. It can be used to obtain mechanical energy, light energy, electrical energy and so on. Similarly, ATP can be used in the cells for the contraction of muscles, protein synthesis, conduction of nervous impulses and many other activities.

Since the aerobic respiration pathway depends on oxygen, aerobic organisms need to ensure that there is sufficient intake of oxygen. We have seen that plants exchange gases through stomata, and the large inter-cellular spaces ensure that all cells are in contact with air. Carbon dioxide and oxygen are exchanged by diffusion here. They can go into cells, or away from them and out into the air. The direction of diffusion depends upon the environmental conditions and the requirements of the plant. At night, when there is no photosynthesis occurring, CO2 elimination is the major exchange activity going on. During the day, CO2 generated during respiration is used up for photosynthesis, hence there is no CO2 release. Instead, oxygen release is the major event at this time. Animals have evolved different organs for the uptake of oxygen from the environment and for getting rid of the carbon dioxide produced. Terrestrial animals can breathe the oxygen in the atmosphere, but animals that live in water need to use the oxygen dissolved in water.

Activity 6.6

Observe fish in an aquarium. They open and close their mouths and the gill-slits (or the operculum which covers the gill-slits) behind their eyes also open and close. Are the timings of the opening and closing of the mouth and gill-slits coordinated in some manner?

Count the number of times the fish opens and closes its mouth in a minute.

Compare this to the number of times you breathe in and out in a minute.

Since the amount of dissolved oxygen is fairly low compared to the amount of oxygen in the air, the rate of breathing in aquatic organisms is much faster than that seen in terrestrial organisms. Fishes take in water through their mouths and force it past the gills where the dissolved oxygen is taken up by blood.

Terrestrial organisms use the oxygen in the atmosphere for respiration. This oxygen is absorbed by different organs in different animals. All these organs have a structure that increases the surface area which is in contact with the oxygen-rich atmosphere. Since the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide has to take place across this surface, this surface is very fine and delicate. In order to protect this surface, it is usually placed within the body, so there have to be passages that will take air to this area. In addition, there is a mechanism for moving the air in and out of this area where the oxygen is absorbed.

In human beings (Fig. 6.9), air is taken into the body through the nostrils. The air passing through the nostrils is filtered by fine hairs that line the passage. The passage is also lined with mucus which helps in this process. From here, the air passes through the throat and into the lungs. Rings of cartilage are present in the throat. These ensure that the air-passage does not collapse.

Within the lungs, the passage divides into smaller and smaller tubes which finally terminate in balloon-like structures which are called alveoli. The alveoli provide a surface where the exchange of gases can take place. The walls of the alveoli contain an extensive network of blood-vessels. As we have seen in earlier years, when we breathe in, we lift our ribs and flatten our diaphragm, and the chest cavity becomes larger as a result. Because of this, air is sucked into the lungs and fills the expanded alveoli. The blood brings carbon dioxide from the rest of the body for release into the alveoli, and the oxygen in the alveolar air is taken up by blood in the alveolar blood vessels to be transported to all the cells in the body. During the breathing cycle, when air is taken in and let out, the lungs always contain a residual volume of air so that there is sufficient time for oxygen to be absorbed and for the carbon dioxide to be released.

When the body size of animals is large, the diffusion pressure alone cannot take care of oxygen delivery to all parts of the body. Instead, respiratory pigments take up oxygen from the air in the lungs and carry it to tissues which are deficient in oxygen before releasing it. In human beings, the respiratory pigment is haemoglobin which has a very high affinity for oxygen. This pigment is present in the red blood corpuscles.

Carbon dioxide is more soluble in water than oxygen is and hence is mostly transported in the dissolved form in our blood.

If the alveolar surface were spread out, it would cover about 80 m2. How much do you think the surface area of your body is? Consider how efficient exchange of gases becomes because of the large surface available for the exchange to take place.

If diffusion were to move oxygen in our body, it is estimated that it would take 3 years for a molecule of oxygen to get to our toes from our lungs. Aren’t you glad that we have haemoglobin?

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